Astrafe was smashed, both arms were chopped off, his head was crushed, and his body was embedded into the ground like a piece of trash.
Instead of the pain that far exceeded his imagination, Retip was more afraid of sothing else.
‘…has it only been 1 minute?’
In his extrely focused senses, blue flashes of light could be seen in every direction, like illusory images.
This sight revived the feeling of fear that Retip had forgotten long ago.
“Cough. Kuhaha…”
Coughing up crackling lightning, Retip chuckled.
Then, he wondered why he had burst out laughing.
What did that laugh an?
Was it a bluff to forget his fear? Or was it a way to help his wretched self?
…It was fine either way.
More than that, Retip paid attention to the fact that he could still laugh.
If he still had the energy to laugh, then naturally, he still had the energy to fight.
The mont he got up from the ground, lightning began to strike from the sky like heavy rain.
Rumble!
The surroundings were illuminated and the tall buildings began to crumble like rotten old trees. Retip looked at the only existence that had maintained its original form in his brightened vision.
Ten Thousand Claps of Thunder(萬雷).
He used a radar concept that could turn a country into powder.
Boom!
In the end, it turned out to be the correct judgnt. With his ability to barely catch the movents, and half luck, Retip was able to earn another 3 seconds.
Head to head confrontations had to be avoided.
Engaging in direct power clashes with that thing was tantamount to suicide.
In this ti, his severed hands and crushed skull had regenerated.
[…so you have a transcendent body.]
Pale murmured in a dry voice.
[That certainly is annoying. If your concept isn’t cut, you’ll keep coming back.]
At that mont, she raised her sword. As the dark blue aura swirled around the blade, Retip felt an unprecedented pressure.
His entire body felt paralysed, like a mouse before a predator.
Crackle.
An electric current flowed through his stiff body, forcing it to move. Retip managed to avoid the blade by a hair’s breadth— or so he thought.
Shuk.
He felt a large cut on his stomach. But instead of blood and intestines, electricity leaked from the wound.
This electricity was the foundation of Retip’s very existence. To the Absolute Retip, this damage was more severe than pouring out blood.
Pale’s attack didn’t stop there.
A series of wild blows that couldn’t be grasped poured onto him without rest, causing the large and small wounds on Retip’s body to increase.
It wasn’t long before he lost the energy to even move and was pushed into a corner.
[About 2 minutes.]
Looking at Retip, who had collapsed in a defenceless state, Pale spoke.
[That is the ti you sacrificed your life to earn. Did you know? I could have finished you off faster.]
“…I see.”
Retip muttered in a slurred voice, then reached out to grab sothing.
It was the broken Astafe. It was like that because it had endured dozens of attacks from Pale. It could be said that it was the biggest contributor to him making it through the first minute.
Even though it had been split in two, a blue current was still flowing from Astrafe.
“It’s broken anyway, so I don’t need permission anymore.”
Just as Pale had a premonition of sothing troubleso, Retip’s mouth opened wide.
Crack.
Then, he began to chew and swallow the broken Astrafe. Astrafe, which was absorbed by Retip, was not a piece of tal, but a ferocious current.
Crack crack.
Retip’s appearance changed, and his body began to blow up like a balloon.
His skin turned blue, and white currents shot from his eyes.
“Haaah…”
Crackle, electricity was mixed into the sigh that he let out.
“So this is the power of the Thunder God that the Lightning God ntioned.* It definitely is sothing that I’ve never experienced before.”(*: Once again, my arbitrariness bites in the butt… bear with it for now.)
Pale looked up at Retip, who had beco ten tis larger than her, and opened her mouth sowhat sluggishly.
[Why?]
Rising doubt.
She lowered her sword for a mont.
“What do you an?”
[In exchange for swallowing that spear, you can at most buy so more ti, but you cannot escape death. Even if you run away, you will eventually die.]
“…”
[But that doesn’t an you will be able to defeat , or hurt .]
Pale’s gaze was not on Retip, but on sothing behind him.
Contempt flickered in her eyes for a mont.
[The Lightning God. That despicable being hasn’t even thought about showing up in this situation. Do you not know why? He’s avoiding because he is afraid of fighting .]
“Shut up, Blue Knight.”
Retip retorted coldly.
Crackle, the electricity surrounding his body crackled as if matching his response.
“I will not forgive you for insulting him in front of .”
[Why are you defending him? I don’t understand]
“You don’t have to understand. Because you and I are different in the first place.”
[Why are you so loyal to the Lightning God?]
Retip smiled faintly.
“Are you really asking about a subject like loyalty while in the form of a knight?”
[…]
“Huhu. You don’t know. Ruling at the top is a lonelier and harder task than you could even imagine… You have to carefully consider every small choice, and if you make even one bad decision, it will beco a lifelong resentnt.”
A feeling of pressure as if your existence is being crushed.
As if recalling sothing, Retip shuddered.
“Then, one day, the Lightning God appeared… Can you imagine it? Being able to put all of your responsibility and accountability onto soone else…! At that mont, I was reborn. It was the first ti I understood what freedom really ant…”
Retip smiled as he recalled a man.
“Others might look at like this and mock for simply passing my responsibilities to soone else.”
[…]
“That’s not wrong. However, I was saved, and I’ve been living a wonderful life ever since. So this is my gratitude. It is to repay the kindness he bestowed upon .”
[Even if you die as a result?]
“Even if the consequence is worse than death.”
Retip smiled.
“I have no regrets.”
[…]
Pale realised that further conversation was pointless and raised her hanging sword once more.
Then, the two beings clashed once again.
—The result.
Retip was able to accomplish his task brilliantly.
Although there was no longer even a trace of the being ‘Retip’ in the Three Thousand Worlds, he has successfully endured 10 minutes against one of the Four Knights, Pale.
However, by that point.
Lukas had still not finished thinking.
[…were you waiting a long ti, Uncle?]
Pale stumbled towards Lukas.
[I’m coming.]
* * *
His mind was blank.
Almost imdiately after obtaining the first and most important clue, Lukas’ thoughts unfolded explosively. That small enlightennt was enough to cause the scope of his thoughts to beco infinite.
It was clear that the information about this power was simply obtained from the Lightning God. So it could not be considered omniscience in the full sense.
Whether the way he used the power was wrong, or the Lightning God was wrong. It was not yet at that level.
What he focused on was ‘destruction’. And as ntioned before, ‘Thunder’ was the purest destructive force in the universe.
‘Rather, my way can be called trying sothing else.’
…On the verge of grasping sothing.
If he thought about it a bit more, he might be able to grasp sothing.
No, he could definitely grasp sothing.
What Lukas was currently experiencing was the ‘ti of enlightennt’, which was much more precious than thousands of pieces of gold. If he were to miss this mont, then even if he did repeat the sa thought later, he would end up with the wrong conclusion.
Only if he were to raise his concentration to the limit and completely imrse himself would Lukas be able to go to the next level.
However─
‘…Lightning God.’
Relaxing his concentration a bit, he called out to the Lightning God.
‘I know you’re listening, Lightning God. Answer .’
[…can you afford to talk?]
An apathetic voice responded.
This guy was probably watching Lukas’ contemplation. He was the only one able to do so.
In any case, this was because his remnant thoughts resided within Lukas.
‘How much ti has passed?’
[…]
‘How much ti has passed ‘outside’ since I’ve been imrsed?’
[What does that matter?]
‘What?’
[In any case, if you don’t develop here, it will all be over.]
The Lightning God spoke in a cold voice.
[Right. What if, at this point, you only had 1 minute left? Or what if 10 minutes have already passed? Will you stop your imrsion and return to reality? Are you confident that you can defeat Pale without developing?]
‘…’
He wasn’t confident.
It was not enough to just find a clue. If he were to return to reality like this, Lukas would not be able to stop Pale.
Lukas couldn’t refute the Lightning God’s words, but despite that, he couldn’t help but feel that he was hiding sothing.
It had already been a long ti since the Lightning God had entered his mind. Now, there were things he could understand to an extent just from this guy’s tone of voice.
‘…however.’
Nevertheless, it didn’t change anything.
Lukas sighed.
He didn’t want to give up his life so easily. Although he was in a state of repeated regression, he was unsure just how long this rule would apply. Moreover, this situation was taking place in the Three Thousand Worlds, not the World of Void. It wouldn’t be strange if variables were to occur.
‘I have always regressed to the first ti I stepped into the World of Void.’
In other words, the regression was a rule that only applied within the World of Void, and it might not be possible for him to regress after coming to the outside world.
If he were to die to Pale here, it would all be over.
As soon as he realised this fact, tension ran up his spine, but at the sa ti, an absurd laugh leaked out.
If he died, it would all end?
Wasn’t that how it was supposed to be in the first place? From the start, regression was an act that went against nature.
‘…I tried to not let it happen, but.’
At so point, Lukas’ way of thinking had factored in his regression.
It was dangerous.
He couldn’t think about the ‘next ti’. Because that fueled the sharpness of his decision making.
Making up his mind, Lukas hardened his heart.
—The Lightning God,
That was his only source of information about ‘Thunder’. And because of that, there were limitations.
For example, if soone with the sa vessel as you were to exist in the sa space, it would not be possible to perfectly obtain information about that being.
‘What about ?’
Lukas inputted himself into the equation.
The computational power Lukas gained by devouring the ‘other Lukases’ was formidable.
‘Computational power can be called the [authority] of Lukas Trowman.’
Therefore, if it was him, he would be able to not only see the movent and developnt of every atom in space, but also predict the behaviour, and even thoughts, of those with egos.
It would be possible for him to completely digest all of the information.
If this power was applied to the minimal ti zone…
…Lukas’ contemplation deepened, but as a result, his understanding of Thunder began to increase.
Thoughts beckoned thoughts, and possibilities beckoned possibilities.
And the hypothesis with the highest probability was established.
Of all the scenarios, the best thod to use Thunder.
‘Lightning God.’
He perceived the presence of the Lightning God.
[What is it now?]
There was even a hint of annoyance in his voice now.
Lukas got straight to the point.
‘I want advice. Listen to my opinion and tell if I’m wrong.’
[Kuku… madman.]
Chuckling as if he enjoyed it, the Lightning God continued.
[Nevertheless, since you seem to have let go of your pride, I’ll give you one piece of advice. If you want to go to the next level, don’t be so attached to the human body.]
‘…’
[As you are now, it should be possible to form a transcendent body with your soul. If you got rid of the pesky constraints of a physical body, the amount of power you could handle would increase by several tis.]
‘I know that. Nevertheless, I have no intention of abandoning my body.’
[Why?]
‘Because I can only be myself when I have this body.’
The Lightning God was silent. Lukas could feel that he was speechless.
‘Although you might not know, I, who was once an Absolute, know. The warmth of a body. The beating of a heart that is more beautiful than any rendition… The soft skin that feels good to touch.’
[Or in other words, fragile. You intend to use the Lightning God’s Thunder with a human body? Did forget what happened to the arm that you used to fire the lightning bolt?]
‘I didn’t have any experience at that ti, I just need to use Void to prevent the side effects.’
[Hmph… do whatever you want.]
The Lightning God didn’t seem to plan to persuade him any further.
Smiling, Lukas said.
‘I want to apply the information acquisition of Thunder to the Absolute Field.’
[Are you talking about magic again after coming all the way here? This guy.]
‘It’s fine as long as there’s a detailed setting. I’ll adjust it after combining them. All I want to know is if it’s possible.’
This was sothing that he couldn’t figure out, no matter how much he pondered.
Only the Lightning God, who knew everything about Thunder, could give an answer.
[In theory, there should be no problem.]
‘Then…’
[However, you might go crazy. It seems that you’re trying to show off your computational power, but controlling space and understanding it are completely different matters. Even more so ‘understanding everything’.]
‘…’
[It is similar to what you defined as the ‘minimal ti zone’. The general laws of physics that you use in the world are a bit different from that place. The world of atoms that you’re trying to comprehend are even more so. The elusive laws in the minimal ti zone are tangled together like a spiderweb…]
Lukas also knew that the atomic world in the minimal ti zone had completely different laws from the existing world.
However…
‘It’s possible.’
[…]
‘This isn’t refusal to give in. Lightning God, I’ll say this without any arrogance or conceit. My computational power is higher than yours.’
[Hmph.]
The Lightning God neither affird nor denied.
[Then prove it.]
That was the last thing he said.
Almost imdiately after reaching a conclusion, Lukas’ consciousness quickly rose to the surface.
—He could feel his blocked senses returning one after the other.
The first thing he felt before even opening his eyes was a certain sensation.
Tuk, tuk.
It was the feeling of a warm, gloopy liquid.
Falling regularly onto Lukas’ face.
The sense of touch ant that his body still existed.
Lukas opened his eyes.
His blurred vision gradually cleared up and returned to its original state.
Then, he realised that soone was standing in front of him.
Like a shield, protecting him.
At first he thought it was Retip, but it wasn’t.
It was a body so delicate that it couldn’t possibly be that guy.
“…Iris?”
Blood dripping from her mouth, Iris looked at him with hazy eyes.
Seeing this, he realised two things.
Firstly.
Iris protected him from Pale’s sword.
Secondly.
She… was already dead.
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